This invention relates to the process of producing carotene concentrates from carotene-containing natural oils and fats and has particular but not exclusive application to the process of producing carotene concentrate from palm oil.
Carotenes are natural color pigments found in plants and animals. These are widely used for applications in food, pharmaceutical and nutritional products. Some carotenes are known to have provitamin A activity, in particular beta-carotene. The carotenes are also shown to inhibit tumour growth and associated with the prevention of cancer formation such as oral, pharyngeal, lung and stomach cancer.
The major sources of natural carotenes are from vegetables, fruits and vegetable oil such as palm oil. Among these sources, palm oil is the richest source of natural carotenes. The orange red color of palm oil is due to the presence these carotenes. The carotene concentration of palm oil can range from 500 ppm to 3000 ppm, depending on the species of the palm from which the oil is extracted. The major carotenes present in palm oil are alpha- and beta-carotene. These two carotenes make up about 90% of the carotenes in palm oil.
A number of patents have been filed on the recovery of carotenes from palm oil and they are U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,132, UK Patents GB 2160874A and GB 2218989. The processes filed under these patents also employed adsorbent in some stage of the recovery process. In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,132 alumina was used, while resin and reverse phase C18 silica gel were used in GB 21 60874A and GB 2218989 patent respectively. This invention relates specifically to the use of normal silica gel to recover natural carotenes from natural oils and fats. At present the commercial production of natural carotenes comes mainly from carrot and algae, and small amount from palm oil. However, the present process for the recovery of carotenes from natural oils and fats are expensive and involves many steps.
Therefore, a need exists for a simple and inexpensive method for extracting carotenes from natural oils and fats.